Chromebook Dictation: How to Turn It On and Use It

ChromeOS includes Dictation, an accessibility feature that types your speech into any editable text field ¹. Turn it on under Settings, then Accessibility, and start it with Search + D ². It only types where the cursor is in an editable field, so click into the box first ³. The sections below cover its commands, its language limits and the usual failures, so you can decide whether it is enough for your work.

ChromeOS includes Dictation as a built-in accessibility feature

Dictation is part of ChromeOS, not a separate app. Chromium's developers describe it as a feature that lets users type and edit text with their voice ¹. Its main job is simple. When it recognizes a spoken command, it runs the command as well as it can. Otherwise it types the recognized words as they are ⁴. Whatever you say becomes either a command or text.

Dictation can save time because speaking can be faster than typing. In a controlled study on an iPhone, English text entered by speech reached 153 words per minute, against 52 words per minute on the built-in keyboard ^{5 6}. The chart below compares the two rates. The study used a phone and short messages, so it does not measure a Chromebook. It does show the size of the gap that dictation can close for a draft.

Dictation is one of several ways to put speech into text. If you want the full picture of the options, read our overview of speech to text in Chrome and our guide to dictating into any app. For a shared term, see the ChromeOS Dictation glossary entry.

Turning on Dictation takes five steps in Settings

You switch Dictation on once, from the Accessibility page. Google's Chromebook Help article gives these steps, and the menu names below follow it.

1. Select the time in the bottom-right corner, or press Alt + Shift + s.
2. Select Settings, then Accessibility.
3. Under Keyboard and text input, turn on Dictation.
4. Tap or select the text box where you want to type.
5. Select Speak.

Google's steps and shortcuts come from the same help article ². The article does not name a ChromeOS version, so if a menu label is different on your Chromebook, look for the Accessibility page under Settings and the Keyboard and text input section inside it.

Once Dictation is on, you start and stop it with the methods in the next section.

Starting and stopping Dictation takes one shortcut or one icon

You can start Dictation in three ways. Google's steps name the Speak button and two keyboard shortcuts, and Chromium's developer documentation names the shortcut and the microphone icon in the status tray ⁷. The table puts them side by side.

The same methods turn Dictation off. Chromium's documentation says it can be turned off in the same two ways it is turned on ⁷. Dictation also turns itself off on its own. If no speech has been recognized for a short period, it stops ⁸. Chromium's document does not say how long that period is, so if Dictation has gone quiet, press Search + d again to start a fresh session.

A practical habit follows from this. Before you speak, check that the cursor is in the right box. Dictation only works while focus is on an editable field, such as a text area or an input box ³. If you click away from the box mid-sentence, the next words have nowhere to go.

Spoken punctuation and editing commands are supported

Dictation adds common punctuation when you say the words for it. Google lists five: "comma," "period," "question mark," "exclamation mark," and "exclamation point" ⁹. You say the word, not the mark, so "period" produces a full stop. Our question on punctuation with Chromebook dictation walks through a sentence that uses several marks.

Editing works the same way. You say a command as its own phrase, and Dictation runs it instead of typing it. To use a command, wait for your spoken text to clear from the box, then say the command ¹⁰. The phrases in the table come from Google's command list, which is the list the help article uses. A 2023 Chrome Unboxed guide also lists Dictation commands, but it is dated and a third-party site, so this guide follows Google's list where the two differ ¹¹.

Google's list has a second group of newer commands that let you use more natural phrasing. "Delete all" deletes all text in the text area ¹³, and "Repeat" repeats the previous action ¹⁴. The newer group has a limit: Google says these commands work only in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish ¹⁵.

Moving the cursor works the same way. Google's Chromebook Help article lists commands for moving by character, word, sentence and line. Examples include "Move to the next word", "Move to the previous sentence", "Move to the start" and "Move to the end". Use them to reposition the cursor before you dictate the next sentence, instead of reaching for the trackpad. Google's table also lists "Select the previous word" and "Select the next word" for selecting text by voice.

The "Type" command is the one to know when a word you want to dictate is also a command. It types the spoken text as written, so you can say the word without the command running. Commands are a convenience, not a replacement for the keyboard, and you can always return to typing with the keys.

A dictation session runs from the shortcut to the final command

A full session uses the same few steps every time. This is the order that Google's instructions and Chromium's documentation imply.

1. Click into the box you want to fill, then press Search + d.
2. Speak your sentence, and say "period" or "comma" where you want the marks ⁹.
3. Wait for the text box to clear, then say a command, such as "New line" ¹⁰.
4. Press Search + d again, or select the microphone icon, to stop ⁷.

If Dictation stops by itself during a pause, press Search + d and continue in the same box ⁸.

Speech runs on the device only when the language's components are available

Dictation depends on two downloadable components. SODA converts your speech into text, and Pumpkin helps Dictation work out what a recognized phrase means ¹⁶. SODA is the part that decides whether speech leaves the Chromebook. Chromium's documentation says SODA turns speech into text on the device, without sending it to a Google server ¹⁷. When SODA is not available, Dictation falls back to network speech recognition ¹⁸.

The table shows the three situations and what each one means for you.

Offline use depends on the language, not on the Chromebook alone. Chromium tracks, for each locale, whether offline speech recognition is supported and whether the matching language pack is installed ²⁰. The source code makes the same distinction. Languages on its speech list are not supported offline by default, and only the locales that the on-device speech installer reports as available are marked as offline. The code also gates that step behind a feature check ²¹, so offline support depends on the software version too.

We could not find a Google or Chromium help page that lists which languages work offline. The list is built on each device, so we cannot name it here. Check the language you use before you rely on Dictation without a connection, and read our question on offline Chromebook dictation for the steps. The on-device speech recognition entry explains the term.

Language also has to match. Speech will not work if the spoken language does not match the device language ²². Google adds that some voice commands are not yet supported in right-to-left languages ²³. If you dictate in Arabic, Hebrew, Persian or Urdu, test each command you need before a deadline.

Most failures come from the language, the cursor or the silence

Three checks solve most cases. First, confirm that the spoken language matches the device language ²². Second, confirm that the cursor is inside an editable field, because Dictation does not type anywhere else ³. Third, speak soon after you start it, because Dictation turns off when no speech is recognized for a short period ⁸.

If a command does not run, the most likely cause is that the text box still shows your last words. Wait for the box to clear, then say the command again ¹⁰. If Dictation still does not respond, our troubleshooting question lists the checks in order.

Connectivity is a fourth check, and it matters only when SODA is not available for your language. In that case speech goes to the network, so a weak connection will affect the result ¹⁸.

Google Docs voice typing is a second option inside Docs

Google Docs has its own voice typing. Google says it works with the latest versions of Chrome, Edge and Safari, and that the web browser controls the speech-to-text service ²⁴. The browser list has grown over time. A December 2020 archived copy of Google's Docs help page said voice typing was only available in Chrome browsers ²⁵. On a Chromebook you use it in Chrome, so it is a second route to dictated text, separate from ChromeOS Dictation.

The two options differ in where they work. The table compares them on the points that matter when you choose.

If your writing is mostly in Docs, read our guide to Google Docs voice typing and compare the two before you choose.

Schools use Chromebook dictation as a writing accommodation

Speech to text appears in official lists of accommodations. ACT's list of allowable accommodations includes speech-to-text software, with conditions about which tests it applies to and how it is given ²⁶. Those conditions are set by the test, not by ChromeOS, so check the rules for any test you take.

Research on students points the same way, but the evidence is small. In a 2024 single-case study of eight middle school students, seven of the eight increased their text productivity when they wrote with speech to text, compared with a keyboarding baseline ²⁷. That is encouraging, and it is also a small sample. It does not show that every student will benefit.

Accommodations are decided for each student, usually through a school plan. Our guide to speech to text for students with disabilities explains the options. This guide does not give individual advice on whether a student should use Dictation.

Dictation is the built-in choice, and other tools are for other needs

If Dictation covers what you need, you do not need another app. It is built into ChromeOS, it types into any editable field, and it supports the punctuation and editing commands above. Browser extensions and other apps may offer features that Dictation does not have. Each one has its own terms, so read the listing before you install one.

Websites use speech recognition in a different way. Chrome 139 added on-device speech recognition to the Web Speech API, so a website can make sure neither audio nor transcribed speech is sent to a third-party service ²⁸. Developers who build voice features on a website use that API, and our guide to the Web Speech API explains how it works.

If you also use a Mac or Windows computer, Yap, which we make, offers an on-device dictation app for both. See our download page for the current options. For dictation in a browser on any computer, try our online dictation tool. For a Linux computer, read our guide to speech to text on Linux.